NOVEL NEXT Chapter 123: The Situation Is Dire
"There's an abandoned warehouse over there, let's go check it out!"
Zhou Yingting hadn't parked yet, and Song Qingyun already saw the somewhat abandoned warehouse.
Seeing this scene, he hurriedly ran towards it with Lin Wenjue.
The car was driving too slow, not even faster than the two of them running.
However, after the two got off the car, its speed slightly increased, and Zhou Yingting also turned toward the warehouse.
By the time the car was parked, the two people had already reached the front of the warehouse and, without a word, ran inside.
"This is the place where gasoline is stored."
Zhou Yingting searched for a moment and quickly found the place where the gasoline was stored.
The gasoline containers were embedded in the cement, but fortunately, Zhou Yingting didn't need the containers right now, so there was no need to exert effort to remove them.
With the oil barrels found earlier in hand, Zhou Yingting opened the tank and started pouring the gasoline bucket by bucket into the car's tank.
After filling about 300 liters, the tank stopped yielding gasoline.
Once Zhou Yingting finished refueling, Lin Wenjue ran out, excited.
"I found an entry to boost the engine's power!"
"Oh, let me see?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yingting's face lit up with joy, and he quickly walked over to the other person, reaching out to take the found entry.
Entry: Level 1 Power
'Effect: Engine power +1.'
'Negative effect: Fuel consumption increases by 0.1.'
The entry description was simple; it was a fuel-consuming entry but could increase power, which made the fuel consumption bearable.
With the gasoline found before and now, they had approximately 800 liters, making them a considerable fuel owner, able to afford the consumption!
Thinking of this, Zhou Yingting immediately took the entry back to the car and installed it.
The car's information consequently changed, with 1.3 liters of gasoline allowing it to run 10 kilometers, and the speed increased from 24 kilometers per hour to 26 kilometers per hour.
"Hurry and search again, see if you can find any other power entries!"
Seeing this entry increase the power by 2 kilometers, Zhou Yingting quickly said to Lin Wenjue.
Upon hearing this, Lin Wenjue immediately responded and turned to continue searching.
"It's a pity there's no negative effect entry to reduce speed, otherwise I might have been able to find where the speed-increasing entry is."
Fuel tanks and some supplies indeed reduce speed, but these things aren't entries, and no negative effects appeared, leaving Zhou Yingting unable to gather information.
Zhou Yingting glanced at the train, then ran down to start searching himself.
After about half an hour, the three had explored almost all of the abandoned small factory and immediately returned to the car to tally their findings.
Another Level 1 Power entry was found and directly installed on the car by Zhou Yingting, estimating that if they found another of these entries, they could combine them into a Level 2 Power entry.
Song Qingyun found a Level 1 Air Conditioning entry.
This entry could lower the temperature inside the car.
Like the power entry, it decreased the temperature by two degrees but increased fuel consumption by 0.1.
With these two entries added, the car immediately consumed 1.5 liters of fuel per 10 kilometers.
Running a hundred kilometers would then consume 15 liters of fuel.
In addition, Zhou Yingting found a sturdy carriage entry; this entry could reinforce the carriage but also required increased fuel consumption.
However, at present, this entry seemed useless, so Zhou Yingting decided to set it aside temporarily to avoid further fuel consumption.
As the car continued, it was already midday.
At this time, the temperature reached its peak.
The engine ahead constantly emitted heat, the sun above continuously baked, and the temperature rose rapidly.
Song Qingyun noticed that on the nearby rankings, two vehicles were marked as eliminated.
"Is this still a train racing dungeon? It's roasting me alive!"
"I've been running for half a day, not finding any water, and I'm getting dehydrated from the heat!"
In the chat column, those eliminated began to complain.
From the looks of it, although eliminated, they weren't restricted from talking here.
"This competition feels a bit terrifying; we still don't know where the destination is."
Zhou Yingting looked and felt a bit anxious.
Their ranking had dropped to 89, and in just these few hours, their ranking had fallen again.
He couldn't figure out how others managed to get so far ahead; are they playing solo?
If one plays alone, the speed would indeed be much faster.
"Look, there's an abandoned car, it might have something!"
After another ten minutes of driving, they quickly noticed an abandoned car on the road ahead.
Upon seeing the abandoned car, Song Qingyun quickly ran towards it after parking.
Very soon, Song Qingyun had searched the entire abandoned car and happily ran back.
"Found three tokens!"
Song Qingyun handed the tokens to Zhou Yingting, among which two were Level 1 Air Conditioning, and the other was a Level 1 Ceramic Coating token.
The two Level 1 Air Conditioning tokens didn't look like much, providing only a faint cooling breeze.
They had one installed in the car, which could only provide a slight cool breeze, lowering the temperature a little bit.
However, once Zhou Yingting installed these two tokens as well, it upgraded to Level 2.
Originally, it could lower the temperature by 2 degrees, and now it could lower by ten degrees, although it increased fuel consumption by 0.5.
The fuel consumption increased from 1.5 to 1.9.
The fuel consumption was somewhat exaggerated, but the three people inside the car all breathed a sigh of relief at this moment. The temperature drop made them feel a few degrees more comfortable all over.
This feeling was truly wonderful!
Had the high temperature persisted, they would have doubted whether they would be eliminated by the heat.
With the air conditioning tokens dealt with, Zhou Yingting turned his focus to the Ceramic Coating token.
But when Zhou Yingting saw that Ceramic Coating token, his hand trembled slightly and nearly tossed it away.
This Ceramic Coating token was actually used to resist plasma erosion!
Upon seeing this line of description, Zhou Yingting's face changed slightly.
Since this token appeared, it must be useful. Does this indicate that they will encounter plasma-ravaged roads ahead?
"What's the matter?"
Noticing Zhou Yingting's changing expression, Song Qingyun looked at him somewhat curiously.
Zhou Yingting didn't speak upon hearing this, but handed the token to him for a look.
Song Qingyun was so thrilled when he found the token that he hadn't paid attention to its function.
Once Zhou Yingting passed it to him, he examined it again and his face changed as well.
"Plasma? That thing that shortens lifespan?"
"Does this mean there's a high probability we'll pass through such an area ahead?"
Zhou Yingting nodded silently, "Since such tokens have appeared, I think it's very likely. Plus, this token won't just erode our lifespan; it could also damage the vehicle."
"Remember the car we entered that replica with? Wasn't it stranded due to plasma erosion?"
As Zhou Yingting spoke, he directly applied the token.
Even though he wasn't sure about the plasma's range, Zhou Yingting had no desire to wait to apply the token upon encountering it.
After all, he would endure three times the plasma damage.
This replica mission seemed a bit troublesome for him this time.
Thinking of this, Zhou Yingting examined the token more closely.
The token's side effect was reducing speed, while it could resist plasma damage.
However, this was a Level 1 token and couldn't fully resist the plasma damage, so they still needed more such tokens to boost the vehicle's plasma defense.
Fortunately, the side effect of this token allowed Zhou Yingting to lock onto the speed-boosting tokens.
About thirty kilometers ahead, there were three tokens that all increased speed, so finding these tokens should increase their speed once more!
.....
"This weather is just deadly; does it feel hotter the further we run, or is that just an illusion?"
At the moment, on another endless, desolate highway, a car with three trailers sped forward.
Inside the car, the three people were sweating buckets.
The clothes they wore had been taken off and used to wipe away sweat, then wrung out until water dripped from them.
"I can't take the heat; I need some water!"
A somewhat shorter member of the trio couldn't help but exclaim loudly, turning to get a drink.
But his actions were immediately obstructed by the other two, "No way, the water supply is running low. The engine's radiator needs it, and if the water evaporates, the car won't run!"
"I'm this thirsty and you won't even let me have a sip? I'm afraid the car won't stall before I do!"
The short man was instantly enraged by this and responded angrily.
He truly couldn't bear the thirst any longer.
Hearing this, the other two exchanged glances, also feeling parched. They licked their dry lips before reluctantly nodding.
"You'll just have to take a little; this water is meant for the radiator. If we don't make it into the top ten, we're in big trouble. Right now, we're ranked 73. We need to hurry, but who knows how much road lies ahead."
The short man felt joyous upon hearing this and then patted his chest, "Don't worry, we have that boiler token, which uses waste water to provide 10 mph of power. We've already overtaken quite a few ranks, and our position is still rising."
"Let's persist, find more water, and getting into the top ten shouldn't be a problem!"
A token that added 10 mph made all the difference, as they steadily climbed the ranks along the way.
The driver's eyes were filled with a bit of worry, still most concerned about how far this road stretched and how much longer they needed to run.